Computer fault

[ljcox]

There is an intermittent fault either in the Video Card or the Motherboard that causes the picture on the monitor to go on and off; mainly off.

Tapping the VC causes it to recover for a while.

I tried another monitor so the fault is not in the monitor.

I have another VC taken from a friend's junk box and although they are different, the connectors are the same so I can plug it into the MB.

However, I did not switch the computer on while the spare VC was plugged in as I'm concerned that the connections may be different.

Does anyone know if the VC/MB connection is standard? In other words, can any VC be plugged into any MB?

Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

They use standard connectors (of various types) - but before you change it you should alter your windows settings to use a standard VGA card (only 640x480) or it won't run with the new card in. Then shut Windows down, install the new card, reboot the machine - then install the drivers for the new card.

 

[Marks256]

Ok... You use too many abbreviations. I am assuming that VC means Video Card, and MB means motherboard? Yes? Ok.

Now. I will assume you have an AGP video card. In theory, yes. Almost all video cards can be plugged into any motherboard (with the right on-board connectors, of course.)

There is a problem, however. If i am not mistaken, if you were to plug an AGP 2x into an AGP 8x slot, you will wreck the mother board (different pinouts, so shorting will occur) Don't quote me on that, but i do know that there are some version issues with shorting of pins.


How about you post the video card, and the motherboard, make and model

Personally i wouldn't worry about it, but if you don't know what you are doing, then something could get wrecked (oh, by the way. I claim no responsibility for your actions [i.e. frying your computer])

 

[gramo]

(oh, by the way. I claim no responsibility for your actions [i.e. frying your computer])

Been down that road before hey lol

 

[ljcox]

They use standard connectors (of various types) - but before you change it you should alter your windows settings to use a standard VGA card (only 640x480) or it won't run with the new card in. Then shut Windows down, install the new card, reboot the machine - then install the drivers for the new card.

Thanks Nigel,
I'm not the worlds greatest computer expert.

Are the windows settings in BIOS?

Will I have to download the drivers from the Video Card manufacturers web site? Or does Windows 2000 have the drivers?

 

[ljcox]

Thanks Marks.

Ok... You use too many abbreviations. I am assuming that VC means Video Card, and MB means motherboard? Yes? Ok.

Yes, VC = Video Card & MB = Motherboard.

Now. I will assume you have an AGP video card. In theory, yes. Almost all video cards can be plugged into any motherboard (with the right on-board connectors, of course.)

It (ie. the one from my friend's junk box) is an AGP video card. It has TNT2 M64/VANTA AGP - 320V REV:3.9 written on it. The original card is a Winfast A180 DDR AGP 8x.

Where would I find info about the on board connectors?

In the handbook for the Video card (the original) it is called a 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 Ultra.
In the 3D features section it states "Complete DirectX 6.x support.
In the Specifications section, it states AGP 2X data transfer with full sideband addressing support.
So I'm confused since the Board has AGP 8X written on it as I said above.

I don't have any info on the M64/VANTA one.

There is a problem, however. If i am not mistaken, if you were to plug an AGP 2x into an AGP 8x slot, you will wreck the mother board (different pinouts, so shorting will occur) Don't quote me on that, but i do know that there are some version issues with shorting of pins.
How about you post the video card, and the motherboard, make and model

The motherboard is a M003 and it is in a Blaster PC.

Personally i wouldn't worry about it, but if you don't know what you are doing, then something could get wrecked (oh, by the way. I claim no responsibility for your actions [i.e. frying your computer])

I'm not a novice, but I'm certainly not an expert. I won't blame you if I damage anything.

 

[Sceadwian]

Tap it and it recovers? Cracked crystal say what? =)

READ:
Sounds like a bad primary crystal on the video card, or a bad connection somewhere on the video card. If horizontal or verical sync is lost on a monitor it will usually go into standby.

 

[ljcox]

Tap it and it recovers? Cracked crystal say what? =)

READ:
Sounds like a bad primary crystal on the video card, or a bad connection somewhere on the video card. If horizontal or verical sync is lost on a monitor it will usually go into standby.

Thanks for the response. I did not give the full story in the first post as I wanted to be brief.

I'm inclinded to think it is either crack, dry joint, etc. on the video card (VC) or in the soldering of the connector on the motherboard because, when I was first given this computer, I noticed that when I removed the screw that holds the VC in place, that the holes did not align. Hence, you had to put pressure on the VC to make the holes align in order to put the screw in.

So I bent the metal a little until they did align (so there was no pressure on the board and thus on the connector) and it has worked perfectly for about 5 months - until recently.

I did a visual examination of the VC and could not see any cracks or dry joints, but it is very fine and it may be a multilayer PCB.

I want to prove if the VC is faulty before removing the motherboard for obvious reasons.

Is a cracked crystal still a possibility given the above? ie. would removing the stress on the PCB be likely to result in a temporary fix?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Thanks Nigel,
I'm not the worlds greatest computer expert.

Are the windows settings in BIOS?

No, it's part of Windows - right click on the desktop and select properties - change the video card setting to standard VGA.

Will I have to download the drivers from the Video Card manufacturers web site? Or does Windows 2000 have the drivers?

You will almost certainly need to download the drivers.

 

[panic mode]

it is loose connection or crack somewhere...
usually it is the parts that are most exposed to user abuse, not the
parts that are on board. for example i would check if:
- monitor works ok with another PC even if tapped on the connector comming out of PC (or try another video cable if this is not permanently attached to monitor).
- card is seated correctly in the slot (sometimes it is possible to jam the card in without properly aligning contacts of the card and MB slot).
- card is secured properly (when someone offers pc case with some fancy screwless desings, tell them to take a hike - springs and plastic clips may allow faster assembly but simply can't compete if idea is to have solid product)

 

[Hero999]

The BIOS settings are totally separate from the Windows settings. The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is stored on a ROM on the motherboard and the settings are stored on a section of CMOS static RAM. Typical settings include hard disk, device boot sequence graphics memory and some stuff you can change from most operating systems like the date and time, power saving settings etc.

 

[Sceadwian]

Actually they don't use ROM's anymore, they're all eeproms so you can reflash the bios if you need to.

 

[ljcox]

Thanks for the replies, I'll look at it on the weekend.